I actually have a pretty good sense of humor.
— Stone Cold Steve Austin
When I see things through my eyes, I don't want to ever just be really negative towards someone's performance. There are many ways to skin a cat. Sometimes I watch the guys, and they're doing different things than I would have done, but I don't ever want to be too critical.
I respect Hulk Hogan because his career lasted some 30 odd years. I think I lasted about 15, but during my peak years, I took the business to a height it never seen before.
I got pile drived in '96 or '97 and was a quadriplegic for about a minute and a half. I couldn't move anything. It was in the Meadowlands at a pay per view with a million or two people watching, and I couldn't move. That cost me a surgery, but I healed pretty quickly, so that was probably my worst day at the office.
Once I came up with the 'Stone Cold' thing, it was like a snowball rolling down a hill; it just kept getting larger and larger, and I wasn't afraid to push the envelope.
When Savage died, that was hard on me. I didn't even hardly know Randy, but I just turned 51 this past December, and he was 58 when he died. I'm like, 'Hey man, just because I'm in that line of work, do I have an expiration date? Am I supposed to go?' I always wonder, but I don't harbor it.
I don't live as 'Stone Cold.' I live as Steve Austin. I was 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin back in 2003, then I rode off into the sunset.
The Rock is one of the biggest movie stars in the world. So give the guy his due.
I had a lot more creative freedom back in the day.
Driving a forklift is kind of like riding a bicycle. You've either got forklift skills or you don't, and I can remove somebody's molars with a forklift.
If it's the morning, and I had a late night, the worst thing in the world is a bright light.
I love the business of pro wrestling, and it is something I know better than anything else I know about.
I've been in the entertainment industry - wresting, but the entertainment industry since 1989; if you have thin skin, you're going to have a tough time in this town, but I've got thick skin.
Wrestling is a very serious subject for me.
I'm honest and tell it like it is. I've been around the horn a few times and learned valuable lessons from screwing up a bit. So, if I can pass off advice or make someone smile on the way to work, I'm for it.
Everything I've done goes back to pro wrestling. Had I not been able to achieve what I did, I guarantee you... my high school jobs were always working in the highway department - driving dump trucks, patching up roads, digging ditches, driving a forklift.
When I went out and did what I did in the world of professional wrestling as Stone Cold Steve Austin, pretty much anything and everything thing I said was ad lib, on the spot, just let it fly and go for it.
I want to be careful when I'm breaking down matches because I don't want to offend anybody or knock anybody's work. It took me a long time to get where I was at, so I know how it feels when someone knocks on you.
It goes - for me - WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, Summerslam. The big three.
A great gimmick is a great gimmick, but on a dud, it just doesn't work. It comes down to talent.
Everyone out here in Los Angeles is trying to do whatever to break into films. It is a tough industry to get into, kind of like pro wrestling in a lot of respects when you think about it.
When I came to WWE back in the day, I'd been working seven-and-a-half years, and I was very frustrated. I started getting some momentum, and my work was very vicious, and it was very believable.
I don't have the talent of Daniel Day-Lewis. I'm Steve Austin, so when I get to hang out and be who I am, and I live on set, it's like a paid vacation, man.
I love my mother to death. I'm pretty much a reflection of her.
My run cannot be touched. If you want to talk about longevity, you can speak the name Hogan. If you want to talk about white-hot, selling tickets, and taking the business to a height it's never been - and, with a hell of a supporting cast, I might add - you're talking about Stone Cold Steve Austin.
I'm not addicted to wrestling anymore. For a long time, I was.
I own a ranch in Texas, so there's always something to do as far as work goes, whether it's tractor stuff or tearing down fence.
On 'Redneck Island,' a show I love, there was a lot of drama and storylines going on because someone's always voted off the island through process of elimination.
I would consider doing something along the lines of 'Tough Enough' because that was my first endeavor into reality television, and that is a world I know and love, and that's why I was on that show.
In 'The Condemned,' if you saw the movie, that's all me; I'll go toe to toe with anyone in an action movie.
I go back to the old school days of that Attitude Era stuff. Everybody knows when I speak of the Attitude Era, my favorite stuff is of the mid-'80s, all that NWA stuff, the World Class stuff, the stuff that Bill Watts was doing.
I'm really proud of 'Broken Skull Challenge.'
I don't look to save the world with any of the movies that I make. I'm not trying to make any political statement with the movies I make. I'm trying to have a good time. I'm trying to entertain people.
I don't know if a pro wrestling career prepares you for Hollywood. When you get out there, and you're in an arena for 20,000 people or 90,000 people, it's a lot different than being on a quiet set with 100 people, so I think you get used to dealing with cameras.
Everyone can have a rough day at the office, as they say. I've had those myself many times when the bell rings.
I really value my days down there in ECW in Philly.
I found out in pro wrestling that it works better if you just try and be yourself versus working on something you're not, so I'm me, and maybe it's magnified a bit, but it's easier just being me.
People go into that arena, and they know the fix is in. They know what pro wrestling or sports entertainment is. That being said, they want it executed to the highest level so that they can suspend their disbelief and buy in, and so, in a world of make believe, you make people believe in you. It's as real as it can be.
Any time you go live with Vince McMahon it's going to be a very interesting experience.
You can't push the envelope at 10,000 RPM and expect to come out smelling like a rose and feeling like a million bucks on the other side.
As much as I love the business and I love my fans, I don't want to be at every WrestleMania.
I love my fans, and I love my relationship with the fans, but when you're a performer, and you're used to being the mac daddy, the main cat, and all of a sudden you're not that guy anymore, it's kind of a whole different spectrum and a whole different level.
I got out of the business when I got out. The hunger was out of my system.
I wear decent shades, but if I lose them, I'll go right to the store and get cheap ones because my eyes are that sensitive.
The thing about the 'Broken Skull Challenge' is that there's really nothing else like it on television.
When I got into professional wrestling, I started, and I starved for two years, and I finally got some breaks. And then I got the biggest break, and I made the most of it and took wresting to its highest level ever.
I think 'The Condemned' has a great story. It's a lot more than a mindless action flick.
I'm glad about 'The Curtain Call' now, but I remember being very confused watching it all go down because I was right there behind the curtain watching it all, and I couldn't believe these guys were breaking kayfabe.
I think if I'd never had found pro wrestling, I'd be a blue collar guy, working a 9-to-5 job.
Man, I had a good time working on 'Grown Ups 2.' First of all, when I read the script, it is hands-down the funniest script I've ever read. It's laugh-out-loud funny.
